Milwaukee Fraternity Home Destroyed in Fire

Milwaukee Fire Department and Milwaukee Police Department arrived at Locust Street and Oakland Avenue around Noon on Monday.

The fire burned through much of the first floor, and is not livable. The house is a fraternity headquarters, and a number of members were home when the fire started in a first floor bedroom. No one was in the bedroom at the time of the fire, and everyone got out safely. 

The fire did spread from original location to a second home.

With the home destroyed, the Red Cross is providing a place to stay for two people who live here. the rest are out of town.

Fire investigators were at the scene all afternoon, and wrapped up their on-scene investigation before 4 p.m. They are working to determine the cause of the fire.

The agency has responded to 6 fires and helped over forty people since Friday. The Red Cross says they see more fires this time of year, when people are together for the holidays it's easy to forget something cooking on the stove, or leave a space heater too close to something flammable.

"What they really need to do is be prepared. One of those homes could have been ours. It could be our house that we're out of and everything is gone. Think about if you were recognizing Christmas or you're just through Hanukkah... all the gifts you had are gone, and that's really really sad at this time of year, and it's colder and colder which is not helpful either," said Patty Flowers, Regional CEO of American Red Cross.